On the first day of the massive culling operation to stop the further spread of the Avian Influenza, as many as 11,200 birds were culled at Alfa Poultry Farm in Bhera village of Dera Bassi on Friday.

“About a hundred men were engaged in the operation who worked for around eight hours to conduct the exercise,” said Mohali Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Aashika Jain.

She said: “The team began the job with sedation of birds, followed by culling via cervical dislocation. Thereafter, the birds were buried in deep pits and covered with lime.”

The culling would continue in the same farm on Saturday as well, during which a similar number of birds are expected to be culled.”After the completion of the exercise at Alfa poultry farm, the teams would move to Royal Poultry farm in the same area and conduct a similar exercise, said Jain.Jain added that once the culling is complete, a massive sanitization exercise is to be conducted and the entire operation is expected to be completed in seven to 10 days.

In all, more than 50,000 birds in the two affected poultry farms are expected to be culled to stop the spread of the avian flu. For the purpose, the district administration has constituted 25 teams — comprising of five members each.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan on Thursday informed that culling of over 50,000 birds is expected to be undertaken at the affected epicenter. “Requisite safety gear, including the PPE kits and face shields as well as the JCB machines, have been provided to the culling teams and adequate quarantine arrangement is in place,” he had stated. The District Administration has also declared “the 10 kilometer radius of the affected epicenter the containment area to put a tab on any commercial poultry farming activity being conducted therein”.